Far Flung Correspondents
Far Flung Correspondents
My Day as a Pilates Olympian
Bright and early on Saturday morning — way too early, in fact — I went to the Pilates Olympics. The participants at the event fell into three categories: Superstars, teachers, and teachers-in-training. And then there was me. More or less, I hadn't been on a Pilates machine in years. Imagine showing up at the Beijing Olympics and just sort of walking on to the track for the decathlon. "One of these things is not like the other..." ran through my head all day.
Now, you may have read Mr. Mohawk's excellent overview of the event, so you know the day was dreamt up by the owners of Pilates on 5th and the publishers of Pilates Style, who hope that it will become a yearly thing. People came from all over the country, and from as far away as Spain, to attend. The room had serious talent, and I mean that in all senses of the word. The Judges were Pilates greats, women whose books I have studied, and articles I have poured over. But that was a long time ago.... A little background: Twelve years ago, Pilates changed my life. I was overweight, and my doctors told me that 1.) normal exercising would be impossible, and 2.) I would have a heavy limp for the rest of my life. I believed them, until I met a woman who had trained under Joseph Pilates, and, even though she was mean — and she really was — she changed my body completely.
New York
Far Flung Correspondents
Malbec and Pilates
Just returned from Argentina where it is late spring and flowers are falling from the trees. Heavenly, and I won't bore you with all the delightful details. But I will say this, in Buenos Aires, you expect to see tango studios and dance halls everywhere. I spotted a few, but they were vastly outnumbered by Pilates studios. Like one per block. Wine, steak, and sexy dancing, are great, new new revelations there. But I feel I spied a more subtle recipe for South American bliss on this trip: First, your breakfast should always involve caramel, and second, post-siesta Pilates is the afternoon answer.
Far Flung Correspondents
Aerobics in Lhasa!
Rare fitness news from the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR): It seems the TAR Sports Bureau sponsored a "National Fitness Aerobics Competition" in Lhasa over the weekend. Seven teams competed, and 350 people showed up to watch. The goal: "To promote the concept of fitness and make contributions to economic and social developments." Oh, for a picture from that middle school gym, sadly unavailable via the Chinese news wires.... Much as we sort of love the notion of open-minded lamas embracing booty toning at 160 beats per second, we suspect the competition is a government brainstorm and fraught with cultural imperialism. (Echoes of Nigeria's recent running promotion in that government press release.) Suspicious fact: The winner of the contest was actually the old TAR Communications Department. Not likely that political self-determination is one of the "social developments" the TAR Sports Bureau was hoping to promote. But, whatever, a healthier Tibet is good for everyone. Also, please make mental note: Aerobics have arrived in the Himalayas.
.jpg "Aerobics (via <a href=\"http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/1020888773_ed38d00652_m.jpg\">stillinberlin.de</a>)")
Other Places
Far Flung Correspondents
Triopetra Yoga Retreat
[This just in from Rebs Wilson, friend on extended jaunt around the world. A fragment from life with yogis on the island of Crete.... -The Eds.]
I arrived at Triopetra to help with computer stuff. My “bosses” are Ieva, a gypsy princess, who sings her Latvian folk songs while washing the dishes and cleaning the rooms; and George, often dressed in 70’s neon. In exchange for my work, I get to stay in yoga paradise for two months.
Each week a yoga teacher arrives with a new flock, car sick and terrorized from ride in, which features jaunty Cretan folk music, and narrow, winding roads attached by olive-tree roots to mountain faces poised to tumble into deep gorges.
Other Places
Far Flung Correspondents
Run, Nigeria, Run
Confronted by a brutal oil war and a growing population of HIV/AID orphans, Nigerian Minister of the Environment John Odey has turned somewhat unexpectedly to fitness. Odey has unilaterally declared a monthly walking and jogging event for government workers. "When you are fit, it cuts expenses on health," says Mr. Odey. "That will give government a lot of money to do other things that the public needs." Certainly true. Also, says Odey, "A healthy nation is a wealthy nation," and "when you sustain yourself, you sustain the environment because you are part of the environment." Very holistic, and tautological. Definite political fluff here, and likely also a weird ministerial power grab, but allow us to be naive and idealistic and supportive: Sometimes a good run is just the thing to shift a dire situation, no? Maybe Mr. Odey's fluffy initiative will get the overworked, broken hearted Nigerian body politic to drag itself off the proverbial couch, away from its tenth hour of Lost reruns and fried plantains, and out into the fresh air. In short, whatever the motives, we're all for it. Run, Nigeria, run!
So inspiring & amazing! Thank you!
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